Pelosi reassures CBC on job creation

Just after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi addressed the legislative conference of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Wednesday, Rep. Barbara Lee offered an endorsement that would warm the heart of any congressional leader facing the prospect of landslide losses this fall.

“Everyone here recognizes why we all say you are the greatest speaker ever,” Lee, caucus chairwoman, said to cheers from the audience.

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The warm words underscore what observers say is the deftness with which the speaker has navigated what could easily have become a very rocky relationship over the past two years. Strains could have worsened any number of times: during the health care reform debate when liberal members felt their leaders were more receptive to the Democratic Blue Dog Coalition or in the spring when some CBC members felt President Barack Obama wasn’t moving quickly enough to address the soaring unemployment in their communities.

And there’s the speaker’s establishment of the independent Office of Congressional Ethics that has ensnared Reps. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) and Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), among other CBC members.

But that hasn’t caused Pelosi to give them the cold shoulder either, members say. “She has shown a healthy respect for presumption of innocence, while at the same time maintaining the integrity of the House as an institution itself,” said Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.).

And though the speaker relies heavily on the 42-member Black Caucus for key votes, the members haven’t always been willing to play ball — most recently defying their leaders by voting against a supplemental spending bill.

But CBC members say that rather than allowing those contretemps to calcify into bitter disagreements, Pelosi has worked hard to embrace the caucus and to remind its members that her leadership has benefited them.

To some extent, CBC members acknowledge the relationship is maintained on an underlying understanding that Pelosi needs the CBC — and vice versa.

“Retaining the CBC is a very important part of retaining leadership,” said Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas). “I know she recognizes, as she does with other caucuses and members, that there’s a great deal of expertise in our caucus. She has kept up the dialogue, which is key because you can’t agree or disagree if there’s no dialogue.”

Pelosi had kind words, as well, for Barbara Lee, the California Democrat. “She’s a person to be reckoned with in the Congress and in the country,” Pelosi said.

“Others think about the table in the boardroom and what it’s going to mean to the bottom line of that corporation, but no thought or connection to that kitchen table,” Pelosi said. “Barbara Lee never lets anybody forget which table is more important in our country.”